1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing technology in an information processing apparatus storing an application program that runs on a virtual machine (VM) through an application management framework.
2. Description of the Related Art
A virtual machine (VM) is conventionally known as a technique of making an application program stably run under environments with different computer resources (e.g., OS and CPU). This technique obviates application program redesign depending on a computer resource and allows the application program to run similarly under different environments.
Recently, an “application management framework” is used to cause a plurality of application programs to run on a VM. The application management framework enables arbitrary control of activation and stop of a plurality of application programs.
A system (to be referred to as an “application processing system” hereinafter) for making an application program run on a VM using an application management framework generally has a system configuration as shown in FIG. 12.
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing an example of the system configuration of an application processing system 1200. Referring to FIG. 12, an application program main body 1202 on an application management framework 1201 executes component classes included in a component class library 1203, thereby implementing a desired function.
More specifically, the names of the component classes to be executed by the application program main body 1202 are described. When a process starts, the application program main body 1202 invokes the component classes. In accordance with invocation from the application program main body 1202, an application management framework 1201 loads corresponding component classes to the application program main body 1202 to execute them.
The application program main body 1202 generates a component instance. The component instance is executed upon execution of the application program main body 1202 so that a desired function is implemented.
Even in adding a new function, the application processing system 1200 can minimize correction of the application program main body 1202 using the component class library 1203. Hence, a system with the above-described configuration is convenient for a system developer.
On the other hand, the system 1200 assumes that the names of component classes are described in the application program main body 1202 in invoking the component classes. For this reason, even when a specific component class should be changed (customized) to another component class, the system developer needs to modify the description in the application program.
When the application program main body 1202 is modified, it is always necessary to execute processes such as recompilation and rearrangement of the application program independently of the modification amount. That is, an operation by the system developer is indispensable, and any user of the application processing system cannot customize the component classes.